Jury Pool Profile

Cass County, Michigan

Republican +33.9 (2024)

County seat: Cassopolis
Judicial district: 43rd Judicial Circuit Court
Population (July 2025 estimate): 51,677; Census PEP. The five-year ACS survey average is 51,520.

At a glance

Cass County is a 51,677-person venue. The county population is 85% White (Census race-alone categories). Median household income is $69,579, $2,757 below the MI state median of $72,336; 21.8% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher. 4.3% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, most commonly Spanish. The largest employment sector is Manufacturing, at 21.2% of covered employment, average pay $61,475/year. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 4.7%, below the 4.98% state average. The county carried the Republican presidential candidate in 2016, 2020, and 2024, taking 61% to 66% of the vote across the three.

Population: 51,520
Median household income: $70,443
Unemployment: 4.7%

Who sits on a jury?

Predominantly White

≥70% White (race-alone) and <20% Black. This county: 85% / 4%.

Cass County has a population of 51,520, with a median age of 45.5. By Census race-alone categories, White residents make up 84.8%; Black residents 4.1%. Independently, 4.5% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The median household earns $69,579; 21.8% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher; 12.7% live below the federal poverty line.

Race & ethnicity

White (non-Hispanic) 43,299 84.0%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2,329 4.5%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 2,058 4.0%
Asian (non-Hispanic) 399 0.8%
Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 2,657 5.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 364 0.7%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 10 0.0%
Some other race (non-Hispanic) 404 0.8%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Age distribution

Median age 45.5

Under 18 10,397 20.2%
18–24 3,945 7.7%
25–44 11,150 21.6%
45–64 14,408 28.0%
65 and over 11,620 22.6%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Income & poverty

Median household income: $69,579; 90% interval $63,500–$75,658; −$2,757 vs MI · 27th of 83
Below poverty line: 12.7%; 90% interval 10.7%–14.7%; −0.7 pp vs MI · 44th of 83

U.S. Census SAIPE 2024

Economic context

Led by manufacturing and healthcare & education

Largest sector in BLS QCEW: Manufacturing, about 2,030 jobs; Education & health services, about 1,760, is within 20% of it, counting the jobs BLS withholds.

Manufacturing is the largest employment sector at 21.2% of covered employment, followed by Education & health services at 17.8%. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 4.7%, below the Michigan state average.

Local economy

Unemployment (12-mo): 4.7%; −0.28 pp vs. state
County GDP: $1.9B; 0.27% of state
Avg. annual pay: $53,849
Establishments: 978

U.S. BLS 2026M07 · U.S. BEA 2024 · BLS QCEW 2025

Top employment sectors

Average annual employment by supersector

Manufacturing 2,031 21.2%
Education & health services 1,707 17.8%
Trade, transportation & utilities 1,527 15.9%
Leisure & hospitality 1,364 14.2%
Public administration 847 8.8%
Professional & business services 738 7.7%
Construction 384 4.0%
Financial activities 291 3.0%
Other services 265 2.8%
Natural resources & mining 243 2.5%
Unclassified 37 0.4%
Information 16 0.2%

The sectors listed cover 98.6% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

BLS QCEW 2025

Housing

Home ownership: 81.6%; +8.4 pp vs MI · 42nd of 83
Median gross rent: $916; −$213 vs MI · 34th of 83
Owner-occupied: 17,314
Renter-occupied: 3,893

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Local economy in 3 reads

Diversified

Top three sectors employ 55% of the workforce, a relatively diversified local economy. Expect mixed employer backgrounds on the panel rather than concentration in any one institution or industry.
Wide wage spread

Highest-paid sector (Financial activities, $89,558/yr) pays 4.4× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $20,416/yr). Stark intra-economy class divisions on the panel; calibrate damages and lost-wages framing to that range.
Small-business scale

Average establishment employs only 9.8 workers, a small-business-dominated local economy. Expect more self-employed and small-business-owner panelists than in institutional-employer venues.

BLS QCEW 2025

Largest employers

Principal employers by headcount

#	Employer	Sector	Employees
1	North American Forest Products	Wood products manufacturing	450
2	Creative Foam	Plastics manufacturing	379
3	Southwestern Michigan College	Community college	285
4	Duo-form Plastics	Plastics manufacturing	212
5	Midwest Energy and Communications	Electric utility cooperative	187
6	Four Winds Casino Dowagiac	Tribal casino	175
7	Lyons Industries	Plastics manufacturing	119
8	EQ United	RV and trailer components manufacturing	105
9	CHT	Chemical manufacturing	93
10	Hydro	Aluminum extrusion manufacturing	72

Source: Cass County, Michigan, audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025 (Single Audit filing, auditor Yeo & Yeo), 'Principal Employers, Current Fiscal Year and Ten Years Ago' schedule. The county gathered the counts by phone calls and does not say which employers it called or whether part-time staff are counted. (2025)

Political composition

Consistently strongly Republican

Republican candidate carried this county in 2016, 2020, and 2024 (avg winning share: 64%). 'Strongly' threshold: ≥60% avg.

Cass County was carried by the Republican candidate in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 cycles, with 66.4% in 2024, 63.7% in 2020, 61.2% in 2016.

Presidential results

2024 presidential · 27,869 votes cast

Republican
Democratic

Republican 18,505 66.4%
Democratic 9,050 32.5%
Other / third-party 314 1.1%

Election results 2024

Languages, households, faith & health

Family-majority, English-speaking

Family households are 67% of all households (thresholds: ≥70% = 'family-dominant'; 50–70% = 'family-majority'; <50% = 'singles/nonfamily-majority'). 4.3% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home (threshold for 'linguistically diverse' is ≥10%).

4.3% of residents 5 years and older speak a language other than English at home. The most common are Spanish, German or other West Germanic, Tagalog. Veterans account for 7.9% of the adult civilian population (3,234 individuals).

Languages spoken at home

95.7% speak only English at home

Spanish 1,012 2.1%
German or other West Germanic 475 1.0%
Tagalog 81 0.2%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 64 0.1%
French, Haitian, or Cajun 55 0.1%
Chinese 37 0.1%
Korean 9 0.0%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Household composition

Households: 21,207
Family households: 14,163; 66.8% of households
Married couples w/ children: 3,295; 23.3% of families
Single-mother families: 1,159; 8.2% of families
Veterans: 3,234; 7.9% of civilians 18+

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Religious composition

23.7% overall adherence rate

Evangelical Protestant 4,384 8.5%
Catholic 4,075 7.9%
Mainline Protestant 1,730 3.4%
Black Protestant 1,431 2.8%
Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 623 1.2%

US Religion Census 2020

Health & education

Health insured: 93.1%; ±1.2 pp
Uninsured: 6.9%; ±1.2 pp; 17th of 83
With a disability: 16.1%; ±1.4 pp; 48th of 83
Bachelor's or higher: 21.8%; ±1.4 pp; −10.6 pp vs MI · 44th of 83
Uninsured, under 65 (2024): 7.7%; 90% interval 6.9%–8.5% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Court infrastructure

Trial court: 43rd Judicial Circuit Court
Judges: 1 (Circuit Court judges per circuit (general civil + felony criminal jurisdiction); District Court judges (limited jurisdiction) and Probate Court judges separate. Vintage 2026 courts.michigan.gov / Wikipedia 'Michigan Circuit Courts' table; cross-checked against MCL § 600.508.)
Court seats: Cassopolis

Court reference

Traffic safety context

Cass totals, 2024 — the per-100k rate is based on 8 recorded deaths, too few to be statistically reliable

Traffic fatalities: 8; 19.45 per 100k adults (18+)
Fatal crashes: 8

NHTSA FARS 2024